Acklam played a full part in an entertaining 2nd round tie of the Papa John's Plate but were eventually well beaten by a very good Beverley side.
The home side scored first as Jacob Swan took a short pass from centre partner Marcus Sudron to break through the middle, then used his pace to run in between 2 covering defenders and go in under the posts for a great try. Stand off Danny Ashton kicked the conversion to give Acklam an early 7 point lead.
However Beverley soon replied with a score of their own. When Acklam tried to run from a penalty inside their half the visitors stole the ball at the breakdown and moved it out wide for their winger to score. The conversion was missed so it was 7-5 after 9 minutes.
The visitors were getting into their stride now and got 2 more tries in quick succession. Acklam's scrum had appeared to be the stronger of the 2 in the early part of the match but Beverley took one against the head then broke away with good support play to score. The score was converted to give the visitors a 7-12 lead.
Acklam then conceded another try straight from the restart as Beverley took the ball and broke away far too easily to score under the posts. With the conversion a formality the visitors now led 7-19.
However, in what was becoming an end to end 1st half, Acklam fought back strongly. After winning the ball from a Beverley lineout they moved it wide for speedy winger PJ Fincken-Hayes to beat his man then offload back inside to supporting full back Nathan Faint to dive over in the corner.
Two more tries soon followed. From an Acklam scrum Sudron put in a deft grubber kick to the visitors' line which was touched down by left winger Danny Scott. Sudron's conversion attempt was just wide but Acklam then scored again as they ran from the lineout with the winger diving over for a great 2nd try in a few minutes. Sudron followed this up with a superb conversion from out wide to put Acklam back in the lead. However, there was still time in what was a thoroughly entertaining 1st half for Beverley to score another good converted try to give them a 24-26 lead at the break.
Four tries each by half time. Plenty more were scored in the 2nd period, but unfortunately for Acklam the vast majority were for Beverley as the home side tired.
Acklam were on the attack and when awarded a penalty in Beverley's 22 they opted for a scrum. However, when they spilled the ball it was picked up by Beverley's left winger who set off on a great diagonal length of the field run to score in the opposite corner.
Then from a penalty in front of the Acklam posts Beverley took a tap and scored from the 2nd phase to increase their lead to 24-36.
Acklam did come back again, however. From a scrum just inside Beverley's half Ashton did another grubber kick which Beverley failed to gather. The chasing Acklam players kicked through for Fincken-Hayes to dive on the ball for his 2nd try. Another great conversion by brought Acklam within one score at 31-35.
However, as Acklam tired in the last half hour Beverley used their speed to dominate the rest of the match, running in 4 more unanswered tries, with 2 of their players completing hat tricks.
The match ended in a 31-62 defeat for Acklam, in an entertaining game for most of which they competed very well against an excellent Beverley side. Thanks very much to the Acklam players who stepped up to 1st Team (or back up to the team) and congratulations to Beverley, best wishes for the next round of the cup.